


How we roll

by TFALokiwriter



Category: Lost in Space (TV 1965)
Genre: Gemini 12 (Lost in Space), Gen, Post-Canon, Post-Unaired Pilot: No Place To Hide
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:14:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28330707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TFALokiwriter/pseuds/TFALokiwriter
Summary: Picks up ten years after the Gemini 12 crash landed on Priplanus with Joshua going where he isn't supposed to be and leads to another environment that they had only lived with for six months before being forced to go the tropical area, this time, under very different circumstance.





	1. To stray away

Winter befell upon the planet that the Gemini 12 had crash landed for what to be the tenth year since they had landed. The Gemini 12 was a far away distant relic of a past that no longer mattered to the doctors and a piece of a future that was once optimistic, and very bright for what the future held in store for them all. Winter didn't impact this area that the family were residing in as it was close to the equator and the weather brought certain confidence in what tomorrow would bring asides to strange travelers, aliens, and strange beasts.

Joshua was eight years old and out exploring a part of the landscape that his family had him about, " _Don't go there without your uncle, Joshua. That's a area no one goes. It only attracts trouble that we do not want."_ his mother's warning weighed in his head. He continued trudging down a hill then abruptly tripped and fell into a ditch. He shook his head then got up as he dusted his pants and sleeves off then looked on observing strange equipment decorated among the tree line. Joshua approached a unusual device that had a screen with several buttons on the side and what appeared to be antenna. He pressed a button then sorted through it.

He paused observing a screen displaying of something that was truly odd. He stared at it recognizing his grandfather and someone else, they looked as real as he did, but they were inside of the box and discussing as if they weren't being recorded.

_"But I can change," Smith protested. "I know I can."_

_The comment earned a slight raise of the professor's brow then Smith lowered his gaze toward the ground._

_"No. . . ." Smith admitted. "I'll never change. I'm afraid it's time for me to face up to the cold, hard facts about myself. Greedy, rapacious Zachary Smith. If ever there are riches or power or enormous glory to be had I know I'll always endanger the lot of you to get my hands on it. You're a good man, Professor. You're doing what you think is right to ensure the safety of all the others. But I'll always be a menace."_

_Smith paused, looking back, pitying his nature._

_"I know it."_

_Smith bent over then picked up the supplies then stood upright but stopped from behind John's side. "Good-bye."_

_Then Smith began to walk on._

_"Good-bye, Smith."_

_Smith took a few steps away from the professor then stopped and turned toward him._

_"Would you be good enough to say good-bye to all the others for me?" Smith asked. "And tell them that if ever again they think of me in the future I would be very pleased if they would think of me kindly. And tell them that I know I do bad things from time to time but I don't mean it. It's just that, well, I can't control myself."_

_"All right, I'll tell them." John said. "But I think they already know that."_

_"Thank you," Smith said, gratefully. "You're very kind. Kinder than I deserve, considering all the trouble I've caused. You needn't worry about me. I'm very resourceful and self-sufficient when I have to be. If I survive."_

_Smith turned away from the professor then walked away._ _A water jug fell out of his arms to the ground._ _From behind a tall boulder Will lowered his eyes toward the ground._ _Smith stopped a few feet away from the fallen item then turned toward it and his attention lifted toward the professor. He turned his head away facing what was ahead. He took a few steps forward from the fallen items. Smith paused in his tracks for the third time then turned toward the professor then with that he walked on vanishing among the rockline and his grandfather walked away in the direction that he had came--  
_

"Interested?"

Joshua looked up toward the figure above him then gasped observing a strange being with a snake head and upright bunny ears.

"That's a bad disguise, sir."

"Oh." the tall being then smiled back at the boy. "It is not a disguise. . . Trust me. I wish it were." the tall being patted on their chest then held a hand out. "I am Vahinka."

Joshua's eyes widened.

"And you don't have rabbit feet."

"Now why--"

"You have OSTRICH FEET! LIAR!" Joshua pointed at Vahinka's feet. "You're not a snake! Nor a rabbit!"

"I didn't say I was a rabbit or a snake---oh." Vahinka looked down then back toward the child. "I see." Vahinka had a long pause. "My appearance is deceiving."

Joshua frowned with a nod.

"The last one who mismatched tried to take my mom away to be a queen."

"OH." Vahinka gasped. "Might I guess; Judy Robinson?"

"You've heard of her." Joshua said.

"How can the entire galaxy not!"

Vahinka walked away then set about moving a large collection of sticks alongside a already built fortress.

"She is the only one to have one handed walked out on the wedding day with Lord Malvutton a year ago." Vahinka leaned against the fortress with a laugh. "Punched out the head of her security detail with the help of her brother Will who made a very grandiose machine and destroyed it just to distract everyone along with a attack on the castle by own machines. No one knows how or who got their hand on that."

"My uncle did that and no she didn't punch anyone, that was my dad." Joshua said. "And I helped."

Vahinka looked toward Joshua.

"He deserves all the applause." Vahinka said. "Your uncle does for the very least."

"So. . ." Joshua looked around then squinted back at Vahinka. "you're a scientist."

Vahinka shrugged then shook their head.

"No, not really." The tall companion walked away with their hands linked behind his back. "I play with what ifs." Long finger nails tapped on the roof of the set. "I watch them play out and don't interfere after sending out little drones that user ion thrust drives." Vahinka waved one of their claws up in mid-air. "Number one rule got me exiled here and my work was transferred to this planet because I said no in trying to change the outcome of a war."

"Did it end well?"

"It all worked out in the end." Vahinka shrugged. "My world lost people. . . but they understand now, yet are very bitter."

"Sounds really ough." Joshua whistled.

"Very. . ." Vahinka said, solemnly. "No matter what we did, our now wouldn't change, a different now would have changed."

"You're saying a lot of words and I don't get them." Joshua said.

"I watch TV shows is what I am saying." Vahinka said then waved a hand toward the sky. "What we change; would be mere theatrical."

Joshua stared at the gazing taller being.

"What's a TV show?"

Vahinka whipped toward Joshua.

"A television program."

"What's a television program?"

"A televised program."

"What's a televised program?"

Vahinka pinched their forehead, exhaling, mentally reminding themselves of the child's upbringing.

"Right . . ." Vahinka unpinched their forehead. "your family is away from everyone they know and civilization. Course you don't know that."

"Do you?" Joshua asked.

"I do not know how to explain it either to you, but, this is a now and I like to offer to help your family on one condition."

"What's that?"

"That you test out a new engine in another reality then take your trip home to this one. It wouldn't be a different now, just a now _now_."

"So our present would be changed?"

"Yes."

"How so?"

"You're using my engine."

"And doing this---"

"It's just to see if my theory is correct." Vahinka shook their hands. "No harm, no foul, I am just a very curious scientist. All of these things---" Vahinka gestured around the area. "---will be destroyed one that is established."

"What about your friends?" Joshua asked.

"My paperwork will be archived somewhere and I do not like sharing my work with friends. Causes problems." Vahinka rubbed their forehead. "Had the entire government delete the paper trail before leaving."

"Josh? Joshua! Joshua!" a young voice called.

"Why?"

"Because friends have loose lips." Vahinka said.

"JOSHUA, WHERE ARE YOU?" The voice called.

"Over here, Uncle Will!" Joshua hollered.

"Joshua, we're suppose to be hunting for rabbits not going into---" Will stopped, then stared, at Vahinka once descending down the hill with care watching his steps until coming by Joshua's side. "Other people's yards."

"But he isn't angry about it!" Joshua shot back.

"Have a lollipop." Vahinka handed Joshua one. 

"Aw shucks."

"Go back finding a rabbit." Will had a hand on his hip as he pointed back up. "The same rabbit that you said you were following."

"But rabbits suck!" Joshua whined.

"Rabbits are very meaty creatures when they are well fed." Will reminded the young boy as he folded his arms looking down upon him. "They make good replacements for turkey and you said they are your favorite meal to have every November."

"What's a turkey?" Joshua asked. "You keep referring them, everyone does, but no one says what they are asides to big birds that go gobble."

"Go back or I will get my prototype Robot to make sure you _do_." Will threatened, darkly.

"Oh, no, not Mr Slow!" Joshua protested.

"His name is Robot, Josh." Will said, exasperated.

"But he is SOOoOOOOooo slow!" Joshua complained then looked toward the hill and back toward Will, unzipped his sleeves, then rolled them up. "I'll do it!"

Joshua made a mad dash for the area that he had came from.

"Sorry about that, he is just a kid." Will apologized to Vahinka. "We warned him about going to this area."

"Ah, so this area is prone to visitors." Vahinka said.

"Yeah," Will said. "Just about right. They don't go near ruins. So we got a lot of territory safe to ourselves for the next hundred years to be entertained."

Will smirked then shrugged as he started to walk away.

"How would you feel if I had a way to bring your family back to civilization?"

Will turned toward Vahinka, wary.

"What's the catch?" Will asked.

"None." Vahinka said.

Will looked at Vahinka, skeptically.

"I have spent the best part of my childhood on a alien planet struggling against the environment, aliens, and animals. The last time that I had my guard down; we lost Penny for months on end and I wasn't there to have her back when she _needed_ it." Will pointed back at himself with a finger. "Nearly lost her and myself being a lone wolf fixing _my_ dumb mistake."

Will resumed walking away.

"The catch is, you spend sometime in another world extracting more fuel and maybe start a first contact with my world; if your people are ready and want all the help cutting down a hundred year journey to Alpha Centauri."

Will stopped in his tracks then turned toward Vahinka.

"Okay, like to tell that to my dad and not change your motive?" Will asked.

Vahinka stared at the older human, bewildered, before replying then slowly restarted hiding their irritation.

"I like to help your civilization get to Alpha Centauri in less than a hundred years and you get where your family where they want to be." Vahinka approached the short man. "Now, are you interested?"

"Your motive didn't change." Will noted with a tilt of his head.

"So?" Vahinka looked back at the young man who looked older than twenty, forty at best, worn by his experience.

"I am interested." Will said then smiled and held his hand out. "Sounds like my dad will be, too. Hi, I am Will Robinson, nice to meet you."

"Doctor Vahinka." Vahinka said as they shook Will's hand.

"That's funny, our campsite is full of doctors." And Will laughed as he withdrew his hand then began to walk away with Vahinka following. "Save for Judy and Joshua."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I use a excerpt from another fanfic of mine regarding space destructors and edited it a bit to remove my total eclispe of the heart au bit with the cup? Yes. did i cheat. yes. did i not rewatch the 'i'll always be a menace' word for word to write the beginning of John banishing Smith scene, yes.
> 
> This story wanted to be made because Joshua wanted to do it for some reason and I hope to discover why. Also hope to make the non-binary character not a villain as I see them not being one at all. Just the individual who got them into a situation that I see developing in my head. 
> 
> also listened to this song writing the rest of the chapter without copying and pasting what I already wrote
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbxuXq_981s


	2. To decide and act

"John, you are thinking too much about Vahinka."

John set up from bed then turned toward Maureen's resting figure.

"We have been living in a place that looks kinder than it is, far away from civilization." John noted then leaned against the bed frame and cupped his hands together in his lap.

Maureen set herself upright then turned her attention upon her partner.

"You are thinking of taking up his offer?" Maureen asked, puzzled. "That is what is keeping you up?"

John was quiet for a solid moment before replying.

"I have decided to take up the offer, Maureen." John replied. "What is keeping me is up is deciding if I am making the best choice."

"I thought you decided it _yesterday_." Maureen assured him as she patted on his shoulder with a smile.

John looked toward Maureen then squeezed her strong muscular hand with a smile.

"Ten years ago, I would have decided it on the first day." John said as his features eased softly.

"I would have done that, too." Maureen admitted.

"But as the leader of this expedition if I did not make it?" John lifted his brows at once.

Maureen got up from the bed, wrapped her purple night rope around her figure, then walked toward the window then gaze out it facing the night sky in the dark room. It was silent between them for a very long time as Maureen struggled to imagine a life without him, the whole world much darker, much bleaker, and more risky, but a battle worth having.

"Would have taken a long time for me to come around and accept the offer." Maureen confessed.

"Not that long." John argued, softly. "I know you."

"You know the woman who has had you by her side." Maureen reminded.

John gave it some thought, his head tilted to the side, then nodded.

"True." John admitted.

"At the end of the day. . ." She turned toward John with a small smile with a loving look toward him. "I would have thought about what you would have done; debated what was needed to keep our children alive to live another day quite extensively until the decision was sound."

John was comforted by that thought then nodded before speaking. 

"Vahinka passed all the tests."

John's shoulders loosened with the words off his chest and Maureen's silence told him that she hadn't seen them either.

"They haven't returned in two weeks, claimed there was one thing they wanted to add, problems arising about our livestock, or in general something terrible happening to the children." Maureen walked around the bed coming toward John listening to him speak. "Those tests would have been far more extensive in your book without me."

Maureen nodded along listening to what the leader of the family had to say.

"You are making the right choice, John." Maureen assured then chuckled as she sat at the edge of the bed. "And yes. . . It would have." 

Maureen grazed her hand along the edge of John's cheek, softly, yet gently.

"Fortunately, we still have each other." John said.

"Time would be the test." Maureen admitted.

"How come I feel that I am going into the unknown doing this?" John asked, concerned, lifting his head up toward Maureen.

"Because you are scared." Maureen replied as she withdrew her hand down to her lap. "So am I."

"We're in the same boat." John said.

Maureen looked toward John then had a slight nod.

"Ready to blaze a new path for our children?" Maureen asked.

John grinned then nodded.

"Always, darling."

In that moment, he looked younger, the graying hair not as so obvious, -- but the more memorable features of his big grin was as big as they were when John first told his first astronomy joke and made him seem just as young when they had first met-- and the laughter lines just faded. John took both of her hands and cradled them in her hands with uncertain in the path ahead.

* * *

Penny awoke in the middle of the night. She sighed, combed through her dark hair, then slid her feet into the slippers and yawned. A soft "Bloop" came from across her belonging to the small creature dressed in a well kept pink small dress with a night cap. 

The sight of the little Bloop drew a smile from the young woman looking toward the creature sliding out of bed tilting her head from side to side in puzzlement at her friend being awake so early as her pointed ears stood out in the night light. A friendly reminder of what she had gained and what she had lost; friends, extended family, connection to civilization.

"Ssshh, Debbie, go to sleep." 

"Bloop?"

"Nightmare."

"Bloop." Debbie nodded then fell right back over.

Penny looked over toward her drawer then slid it open and withdrew her old diary.

"When was the last time I opened you?" Penny asked, sliding the book open, the book mark present at the back. "Oh, there you are."

Her fingers traced over the pages as her eyes adjusted to the lighting and the words were so apparent.

"Robot, Jupiter 2, Doctor Smith. . ." She smiled at the contents. "Right where I left you; searching for home."

Penny kept her smile flipping through the pages, the tedious neat handwriting, the small drawings along the side of the pages of the aliens and the items that the Robinsons had crossed paths with. She followed along to the journey that naturally changed from the family to Smith, Robot, and Will on adventures and their attempts being foiled each time to reach Earth by simple flaws and Galactic Prime Directive.

She sighed, coming to the final pages, her ideas waning, her boredom settling in the initial three years and painfully obvious as there were time jumps at random. The last entry was three years ago, the other one was five years after she had written in her diary featuring the trio older but one not touched by time, the recent one fueled by a idea of a machine that Joshua had described as a improvement to what Will had made and she went off on a tangent that boiled down to what it had become now that could fit in her diary.

“ _Danger, Will Robinson!_ _Danger_!”

A tear rolled down her cheek then landed on the page with a splat.

Then another tear dropped landing close to the first tear then another tear landed as the gravity of it all crashed upon her. They were so fictional but yet so real in her mind just as her family was because in all intents and purposes, they were her family despite being different individuals and new characters.

They were still lost. They were never going home just like her own family, they were never going to have a happy ending, the words that she had written so long ago made up a tragedy that was orchestrated by one hand out of greed then out of love with a do-over but the Will Robinson that was so familiar to her as her brother was -- the boy that went out into space with her -- so long ago was different compared to the man that she knew now. He was similar to Smith; only the things that he did were done out of love and used for the benefit of the family not for his own.

Penny slid out a pen then began to write a new chapter, decisively, opting to give them what her family could never have.

_In another world, a elderly Will Robinson returned to the Jupiter 2 with Robot and reunited with his family and his best friend Doctor Smith was back, they all made it to Earth, greeted as heroes, Smith shielded with no court hanging above his head as the family were able to breathe and relax and not focus on leaving the planet immediately._

_That world, the events that preceded it, did happen. But this one is being used as a fantasy written and employed by Doctor Smith in the beginning of his new found existence all alone. John never went after Smith and brought him back to the Jupiter 2 after the events of the space destructors, he walked away. Will was quiet as he watched his father walk off heading back for the Jupiter 2._

_Will walked after Doctor Smith, quickly, picking up his pace._

_"Doctor Smith!"_

_Will cried out for the older man._

_"Doctor Smith!"_

_Will called out the older man, again._

_"Wait!"_

_Will came to a halt as Smith halted in his tracks._

_"Yes, my dear boy?" Smith turned toward him then looked relieved spotting Will, observed him, but still concerned. "You are not hurt severely?"_

_"I am okay." Will said. "I just can't let you go without saying good-bye is all."_

_"After all I have done?" Smith asked. "Nearly condemning you--"_

_"It was a accident." Will said. "They happen."_

_"More often when I am there." Smith said._

_"I forgive you for that." Will said._

_"Why. . , thank you, William." Smith's voice about to crack, about to break, about to sob, about to have a case of the sniffles._

_“Doctor Smith, if I weren’t so grown up. . .” Will started. “I think I might cry.”_

_“So would I,” Smith replied, he started to sob. “But, we’re too adult for that sort of thing.” then another sob as a tear came down. “Aren’t we?”_

_Will hugged the older man._

_“Good-bye, Doctor Smith.” Will said._

_Smith held on to the young boy, sniffling, sobbing, heartbroken._

_“Farewell, adieu.” he patted on the boy’s head softly and gently as another tear came down his cheek. “Sweet prince.” he released another sob, another pat on the boy’s head, allowing another tear to come down. “Adiue.”_

_It was Will who broke off the hug then Smith gave him a small pat on the shoulder looking aside, heartbroken. Smith wiped off what was left of the tears with his sleeve then recomposed himself and picked up the luggage. Judith. Penelope. Maureen. Don. John. His heart ached for them. He had frightened them, nearly taken a member away from them and earned their scorn._

_Smith picked up his luggage then regarded Will with a sniffle then lifted his chin up._

_“Farewell, William.” Smith said, miserably, then sniffled as he walked on ahead of them into the dark._

_He walked on, quickly, and Will went the way that he had came._

_The Robinsons left, they reached Earth at the end of the year but had no way of coming back for him as they lost the coordinates where he was and made their way to Alpha Centauri with millions of families following them with a new safety system. Smith woke up in a warm cave, all alone, he scavenged, he hunted, he discovered, he forgot, thousands if not millions of light years away from home.  
_

_He awoke the next day, learned more survival skills, he yearned for the luxuries of before, he hunted, he forgot, he slept, he awoke, learned more survival skills, yearned for the luxuries of before, he forgot, he hunted, he slept, and awoke until all that was left was warm fuzzy memories of Earth and only a bare idea of how he was here. He awoke, he learned, he hunted, he forgot. He spent thousands of days this way with rare visitors. He never made it home._

Penny finished jotting down in her diary.

Then she put it away and fell asleep into bed.

* * *

"Joshua, you said you found them here, right?"

It was the following morning as Maureen stood at the edge of the hill looking down at the rather unoccupied space beside her grandson. Don was searching the landscape with the help of Judy among the trees for the mysterious figure who had been there. John turned toward the direction of Joshua, confused, but generally curious.

"Right and there was a lot of junk." Joshua said.

"Junk." John repeated.

"Yeah," Joshua said with a nod. "Junk, grandpa."

John turned away from Joshua trying to come to grips with the unexplained disappearance.

"He may have decided to bring his equipment somewhere else." John speculated.

"Or, he realized this is a heavily used area." Don suggested.

"Perhaps." John said. "We don't know him that well."

"Doc, this kind of individual strikes me as the kind who sticks around long and means what he says." Don insisted.

"What strikes you as that?" John faced toward the younger man lifting his brows up at once.

"He came with Will." Don began. "They normally come alone without being invited." Don looked on in the distance. "Has to be somewhere that isn't well used by aliens in this camp site."

"We will go further than we have done so in a long time." John noted.

"We would be." Don said. "Joshua, stay close to the camp site with Will and the others."

"Do I have to?" Joshua pouted.

"You have to." John agreed with Don's decision. "It will be pretty boring looking out in this environment."

"And I am going to need some help finding a python for December feast." Maureen put a hand on the shoulder of Joshua. "Should things not go the way that we want it to be."

"I am going to grow old on this planet, am I?" Joshua was looking toward his grandmother as he asked.

"Can't say that for certain of what the future is in store but know it is going to be okay." Maureen told Joshua as they turned away then walked on back for the colony site.

"Judy, keep the fort up while we're away." Don said as he approached the younger woman then placed a hand on the side of her shoulder. "Should it all go wrong, we need you keeping our son safe."

"I will." Judy said. "Just come back, alright?"

"I will fight to come back to you, Judy." He took her hand then planted a kiss on her knuckles. "Just like always."

Judy smiled then withdrew her hand and gently cupped the side of his cheek. 

"I love you, Doctor West." Judy said. 

"You too, Director Robinson." Don said. "Who knows? Maybe this year, you will get to be a actual director."

Don walked away following after John then Judy walked on after Maureen and Joshua. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did I cheat again using a canonical scene that I had written in another LiS fanfic, YES. Crashed into the sea.


	3. Yearn for,  hope, dream of; act on it

_"Couldn't find him."_ John's words echoed in Will's head. The chance, the thought, the belief that they had a chance at leaving the planet being so rudely dangled above them and taken away left a sore spot. They spent the better part of the next two weeks searching for Vahinka around the tropical climate that they had gone familiar to and came up empty. Empty. Completely thoroughly non-existent.

After the second ended, Will wanted to leave the planet. He had _enough._

But, leaving his family behind while he went back where it began?

That made a wrinkle in leaving.

* * *

"So Aunt Penny and I chased the old bucks, cornered them, but then a hog came and broke our trap!"

"Sounds very entertaining." Maureen noted as Penny chuckled.

"Which escaped from this space cattle rancher---" Joshua was cut off by Penny.

"Who happened to be from a wealthy space rust belt." Penny noted.

"Angry about losing his source of income and blamed us for losing the cattle!" Joshua finished for emphasis.

"We had nothing to do with it." Penny deadpanned.

"Luckily, I talked him out of it by demonstrating and rebuilding our pen for the space deer." Joshua beamed.

"What's on your mind, son?" John asked. "You seem a little preoccupied."

Will cleared his throat before replying.

"I am going back where we crashed and search for Vahinka there." Will said.

The announcement was shocking and surprising for the Robinsons to hear from the youngest member of the adults. Joshua had stopped what he were doing as he looked up toward the eccentric uncle who was eating from the bowl with some stirring of the noodles. Will looked up toward the vast collection of his family.

"When?" Maureen asked.

"At nine thirty-five PM." Then Will shrugged. "Naturally when the alien wolf howls tonight."

"When did you decide you wanted to go back there?" Penny asked.

"Just a hour ago." Will said.

"You said you never wanted to be stuck in the same area where those giants were--what changed your mind?" Penny asked, curiously.

"Just growing up here." Will replied, quite simply.

Maureen exchanged a glance with John then their attention shifted toward Will.

"It can't be all that bad growing up in paradise." Judy insisted. "No winter, just the random turtles with spikes from time to time with so many wildlife."

"They make good empty race cars." Don noted with a laugh.

"Very good race cars." John agreed.

"The occasional jaguars, bears, anacondas, and strange animals that can't be found on Earth." Judy resumed on her train of thought.

Will dabbed along his lips then had a sharp intake of air as he dropped his handkerchief on the counter.

"Just because you are happy with surviving in a environment that doesn't have people who stay doesn't mean _I am_." Will said. 

Will set his spoon alongside the bowl then got up and he put his hands on the edge of the chair as he continued to talk with a short lived pause. 

"Anyone is willing to come with me can return with the Chariot." Will finished as he slid the chair in front of the table. "I'll come back with the Gemini 12 if things go the way that I want it to."

Will went inside of his dark apartment beneath the night with his head lowered and his hands slid in his pockets. It was silent for the Robinsons, it was John who started eating then Maureen followed and so did the rest. It was quiet, just as quiet, just as quiet as the first night at the Gemini 12 when the tent was set up, when the garden had been planted, the ostriches had been first gathered, with the lights of the Gemini 12 off.

* * *

The sounds of the wild life echoed through the tropics, between the trees, between the bushes, between the stones, between the ponds, and through the hills. Judy remained outside long after the rest of the family had retired to their huts that were made of clay and wood. It was a far cry from the campsite that consisted of tents of so long ago. Will returned from his apartment then paused spotting Judy.

"Why are you out here?"

"We have a unfinished conversation."

"I don't think we do."

"You haven't talked about how it feels being stuck here."

"I thought we were on Mars for the longest time, but I feel different about that. Mars is a prison, barren, lifeless, full of rocks."

"Doesn't this hospital environment look better?"

"No, it doesn't, Judy."

Judy briefly puckered her lips

"You have everything you ever want, spice, aliens, greenery, trees, ruins. . . Adventure from time to time. What do you ever want?"

"What I want. . . is something I can have."

"What is it?"

"I like to have friends, permanent ones, ones I can grow old with, not just you---I mean, I do love you all." Will admitted as he stretched his arms out. "But, having friends for life is a gold standard for all the spice that this quake planet has and this---" he pointed down. "planet hasn't exactly met it."

Will gestured toward the climate of their current exile planet then lowered his hand.

"The friends that I do make sometimes leave." He folded his arms. "But, when they _do_ come back, they don't stay long and I don't like that one bit."

Will turned away with his back now facing to Judy facing the darkness ahead.

"At this point, I feel like I have been given a fake promise yet again. GOD, I feel so gullible--" he threw his hands up in mid-air. "But a part of me --" he placed a hand on his chest as his head lowered as did his voice "- feels that it's real!" his voice grew louder at the last bit. "That there's a actual chance that we can leave this planet!"

Will's shoulders slumped as he withdrew his hand from his chest. Maureen and John were at the doorway listening to the conversation. It was dark inside of the apartment with the lights off so the children weren't aware that they were waiting to listen to the end of the discussion that had been only started a few hours ago.

"Some nights, I dream that everyone is gone." Will confessed.

Will lowered his head with a sigh.

"That I die all alone surrounded by ghosts, waiting, just _waiting,_ for one of our old friends to come back and disobey the Galactic Prime Directive then take me back to Earth and tell Alpha Control that we survived the crash."

Maureen wanted to cry over Will's confession as Judy covered her mouth and John looked quite pained as he clenched her shoulder.

"If you like, Judy, you can take me through the hungry sea to the Gemini 12 and take the Chariot back." Will finished, quietly.

"I want to help you." Judy insisted then puckered her lips. "But, I am too afraid."

"I get that." Will said as he nodded. "Nearly losing Don the last time. . ."

"I can still hear his scream---" she squeezed her eyes briefly shut, lowering her hand, clenching her hand. "I don't want to hear _yours_."

"Sounds to me that you're a chicken." Will said, bemused.

"I won't deny it!" Judy's pride showed, remarkably, proudly.

Will shifted back toward Judy then smiled.

"I know it's been hard for you, too. . . . " Will said, heartbroken, his smile faded, full of pity.

Judy looked back at what she had lost and what she had expected initially.

"Nothing has gone the way that we have expected, Will." Judy said. "It's up to us to . . ." Judy sighed, stopping herself, then squeezed her eyes briefly shut torn with words that she didn't know to say next on that train of thought. "I wish I _had_ something profound to say but I don't."

Will shook his head as he approached his older sister then took her hands and gave them a squeeze.

"You do." Will argued.

"We just have to make do with the unexpected."

"Throwing away your career, future, just to establish the first theater for others to maintain and then you didn't get that, either."

"Legacies are that way." Judy said. "I will have none if I don't help you and if I do help you---your only legacy would be causing us to go after them."

Will could only muster a smile, tearfully, appreciatively.

"I will come back with the Gemini 12 if things go the way that I want it to." Will withdrew a hand then set it on her shoulder and squeezed the side of it. "I promise."

Will let go then walked away into the dark leaving Judy behind.

* * *

Will slid the leveler open then the door to the shed opened with a warm insulted blue coat set on his forearm. He slid up the neck collar as he entered the dark gloomy interior of the room then twisted and turned a short edge that summoned light in the dark room that he were in. Will turned away from the lamp facing in the general direction of the tall six foot tall machine set in a recharge booth that had been built from left over pieces of equipment left behind by travelers.

Will smiled then went over to the console and flipped a button. The machine's bobble head lowered then exited the recharge station. It was a automatic state of being awakened, a piece of programming that Will had done only sometime ago, as the machine rolled quite slowly off from the pad. 

"Hello, old friend."

"State the purpose of this current mission."

"You are required to search for and retrieve Doctor Vahinka, Robot, back where the Gemini 12 is."

"My data banks indicate the Gemini 12 is a damaged craft that is one day worth of travel through the hungry sea."

"Yes, it is." Will confirmed.

"Specify the duration of my mission." Robot requested as his helm twirled.

"Long as it takes." Will said. "Not just your mission, it is our mission. I am going with you."

Robot's helm bobbed up, unexpectedly, as though alarmed by the comment. As though he were alarmed by the sudden addition to the mission duration -- it hadn't happened often, going alone with Robot -- so far from home. As though Robot could feel; which Will was certain and knew for that matter, the machine could not. A surprising development but one that had to be his projecting for something that would only be possible in civilization and additional parts to fine tune.

The thought that Robot considered the base of operations as the Robinsons's home made Will's heart ache and the bitterness sang fangs into heartstrings more than poison pills could ever do severing parts of his heart with a single tear as the entire thought significantly pained him more than the last ten years have.

"The mission will be seen through, Will Robinson." And yet, Robot had no arguments against it, no opinion about it, or a thought regarding Will's involvement.

"Come on, we've got some work to do." Will beckoned the machine as he walked on toward the general direction of the Chariot.

The Chariot rested in a area full of vines, weeds, firmly part of what was undoubtedly a garden of ferns that had chosen it as their home. The windows weren't shattered, the curtains looked so well preserved, the solar panel however didn't seem to be in the best luck. He grimaced at what appeared to be good luck at first glance.

Will could tell with a wince that it needed to be replaced, and he knew how and where to get the replacement, it was only a matter of traveling, the headlights remained off just as it had been turned off so long ago, and the upper dome of the Chariot was so intact it was a miracle as the vehicle itself looked quite intact. Will sighed then resumed approaching the Chariot.

"Warning, warning!" Robot announced. "Lifeform approaching!"

John came out of the shadows from the side of the Chariot. 

"You can relax, Robot." Will put a hand on one of Robot's arms then gently lowered it and Robot's other arm lowered upon Will's command.

"Doctor Robinson." Robot acknowledged, his arms now fully inside his arm sockets, his helm lowered.

"Dad." Will halted in his tracks. "You can't change my mind."

"I would like to drive you there." John said. "I brought the family to safety and for their well being; yours. . ." John sighed, briefly lowering his head, then shook it shifting his gaze up toward the shorter man. "your well being hasn't been prospering on this planet."

Will nodded, looking younger, _happier_ as he pointed up toward the sky.

"My well being is up there, right where we fell from, right where the travelers have fallen from."

John nodded, quietly, but solemnly yet fearful of going back of what could have killed them all instead of sparing them.

"Whatever happens up there, Will. . . We will be prepared for it this time. We weren't the first time. We have enough laser rifles and laser pistols to arm every man and woman--do you understand---" he walked closer toward Will. "--that the next overmorrow is going to be more risky than the tomorrow we will have on this planet?"

"Yeah and I want that." Then Will looked up toward the night sky quite hopeful and optimistic of what was in store, a genuine smile, curiosity, and wonder. Something John hadn't seen from his only son in roughly a decade. "Being among civilization and being known, dad?" Will approached the older man then halted in his tracks with attention on John. "That makes risking my life worth it."

John grew lighter.

"Good." John said. "How can I help, son?"

Will grinned.

"For starters, you can begin by helping me decouple Robot from his treads and lifting his upper half in the Chariot first." Will explained with his arms folded. "And getting a new solar panel after the fact."

John grinned.

"Let's roll."

* * *

The Chariot rolled through the dark hungry sea through the numerous hours that passed as thunder rumbled over, the sound of the waves clashing against the Chariot was a unwelcomed sound, the sky above was dark and moody even dreadful but instead of being one that was sad; it was quite the opposite. All that Will saw through the obstacles presented by the storms, the terrain, was only a opponent that gave him the impression that this opportunity to reach Earth was even more possible.

The familiar sound of thunder, a loud sound that ricocheted through the air, the familiar sight of ostriches fleeing through the environment was a sore sight to see gracing through the area. Will grinned looking on planting his face along the window staring out into the desert that had been so ceremoniously abandoned by his family for the tropics. It was exactly as how he remembered it with carefully driving. The sound of Robot squeaking from behind them as he twirled, keeping up on the alert, a sound that stood out against the thunder.

The Chariot paused once they cleared the mountain area making it to the edge of the desert scenery. Will was the first to unbuckle, slide on his coat, ear muffs, scarf, and gloves. With that, Will was the first one out then Robot was disassembled and set alongside Will in two pieces so John went to the top of the Chariot then set them along the wheels of the Chariot. The water jug landed with a thud after the orange and white luggage right in front of a silent Robot who's upper half wasn't making a squeaking sound at all. 

"When do you want me to come back?"

Will shifted toward John.

"My intentions are to fly my way back." Will said with a shake of his head. "The flight console right where you added it."

"Just waiting. . ." John said. "Will, there is something you have to know."

"About what?"

"She can't fly. She can't lift off."

"What do you mean by that the Gemini 12 can't lift off?"

"Her atomic engine was melted beyond repair during the crash." A silent 'oh' came from Will and a piece of the puzzle fit together. "Maureen, Don, and I decided to make do with the strange planet we were on, it wasn't too bad, grizzly, or . . . cruel."

"The atomic engine has been paralyzed this entire time and you didn't bother to tell us?"

"Will, you didn't need that fact weighing over you and your sister's heads."

"That would have made the first six months more rough knowing that." Will admitted. "I am not angry about it, but I do appreciate being told that information."

"I hope you find Vahinka." John replied.

"Vahinka or some one could give us a atomic engine so we can fly in the sky." He rubbed the back of his head. "Be a hard sell."

"But you will find someone willing to help." John said as he smiled back. "Good luck, Will."

"Good luck on the trip back." Will wished his father as he watched him board the Chariot then buckle in. 

"Make sure you get him motor oil." John said. "Everyone knows he needs it."

John gave a thumbs up, then proceeded to turn the Chariot around, and rolled away. Will watched the Chariot roll on into the distance returning to where it had once came from for a long while then went to work assembling Robot in the cold. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end scene was originally set to be part of ch 4 but given how long the scene was going, it felt best to be moved to ch 3.


	4. A bright way of looking at things

"We're home, Robot."

Robot paused in his tracks.

"This does not compute. My advanced sensors detect only sand and fuana."

Will smirked then shifted his attention upon the machine.

"The Gemini 12 is under the sand." Will motioned a hand toward the sand dune. "That will take awhile just to clear."

"My mission statement is to search for Vahinka, Will." Robot reminded.

"Yeah, it still is." Will set his luggage beside him then placed his knuckles on the side of his hips. "I will join you after clearing the area so I can have a place to stay."

Robot's upper half squeaked as he twirled toward the large sand dune.

"Just make sure to report your findings in twenty-four hours." Will patted on the side of Robot's chassis then grinned as he linked his hands behind his back looking on in hope toward the tall sand dune then took a step forward. "I like to have this ship all ready to be modified then ready to fly and _go_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen, this is all I was able to get out for this chapter in the beginning of January 2021 as January was Georgia Election Month, who shall not be named's one hour call with Georgia Secretary of State, who shall not named inciting insurrection and Republicans did not denounce it hours after the fact and the VP who enabled shall not be named declined to 25th amendment him. 
> 
> ALSO, THE DEMOCRATS TOOK THE SENATE. Bright future with DC and PR ahead of us! FIFTY-TWO STARS. Woopee!


End file.
